Photo Restoration with GIMP tutorial

For this week's LO I restored an old childhood photo. Here's the original:



And the edited version:



Major fixes were the large damaged area bottom right and the extensive scratching and discolouration. Less noticeable but important to the finished picture were the correction of the background and removal of the wire on the right. Here's a quick tutorial on how to do fixes like this using free software called GIMP:



Best watched on Youtube in 720p for a sharper video :-)

Thanks for stopping by! Love to hear your comments :-)

My Sheri Crafts -- Bears!

My Sheri Crafts challenge this week is Teddy Bear themed. I found this old photo of me, and decided I'd make a cute little Teddy LO for my "All About Me" book:



November 1st I was able to download six free cricut cartridges for my Gypsy, and fortunately I only had one already. I was thrilled to gain the Christmas solutions cartridge, as I'd already wanted it but couldn't justify buying it since I already had Christmas Cheer and Winter Woodland. Here's my first cut from it, the teddy bear:



He's embossed with the A2 embossing folder, Textile Texture. I cut first, then used a cricut marker, then ran through my cuttlebug and chalked with Pebbles Chalk. Love that stuff, love the effect.



I'm forever a sucker for some of the MS punches, so this one got me last week. It's a new one, called Cherish. It's a PATP set, and it's beautiful! I'm sure it'll make it on to many of my LOs!



Supplies:
DVWC WB Gypsy Baby Stack
Martha Stewart Cherish Punch
Ribbon
Martha Stewart Antique Gold Glitter
Cuttlebug A2 embossing folder, Textile Texture
Pebbles Chalk

My Sheri Crafts -- Remembrance Day

This week's challenge on My Sheri Crafts is special: it's Remembrance Day (Veteran's Day for our American friends). My Uncle Stewart is a retired member of the British Armed Forces, and this is my favorite photo of him, on exercise sometime the 80's. Being so far away, I didn't grow up knowing him; but on visits to Northern Ireland as an adult, I have grown to appreciate what an amazing man he is.







Supplies:

Martha Stewart "Modern Garland" punch
Paper: DCWV "At Home" stack
Glossy Accents and Distress Stickles ("Broken China") on Uncle
Heritage cricut cartridge

Please check out the other inspirational projects atMy Sheri Crafts and enter yours!

Finally, I'd like to share this video with you. It was shown to my students on a field trip last week to the Calgary Military Museum. Please check out the Military Museum if you can. It's truly fabulous, and well worth a full days visit.



All Canadians who fall in the line of duty are repatriated through the base at Trenton, Ontario, and driven to Canada's chief coroner in Toronto. This has been the procession of the 152 men and women who have died in Afghanistan since 2002.

My Sheri Crafts -- Get Well Soon!

How appropriate! My littlest helper, "Wiggles", is almost three and on Friday night became quite ill. She vomited all over her daddy and again on me. Poor little one. As I write this, she's asleep on the floor, lying on a towel, beside me. She doesn't want to move, just stay close by.

Funny enough, our challenge on My Sheri Crafts this week is "Get Well Soon" and I made this card:





I like the cuts, from Just Because cricut cartridge, but I LOVE the ribbon detail. It was inspired by the paper weaving our kids do in school, but is a nice touch I think!

Make sure you enter your card (or other craft) in My Sheri Crafts blog this week!

Have a great weekend, and safe Halloween!

My Sheri Crafts -- Halloween!

My Sheri Crafts is getting ready for Halloween! So is my class, and we made these fabulous water bottles:







Supplies:
Cricut vinyl
Cricut Happy Hauntings
Transfer tape
Halloween coloured ribbons
Glow in the dark beads

Make sure you enter your project at My Sheri Crafts for a chance to win!!

My Sheri Crafts -- Boss' Day Challenge

A quick little gift for My Sheri Crafts challenge: Boss's day! Make sure you enter your card or project for a chance at winning!




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUsBvkfQKUw&feature=fvw#

My Sheri Crafts -- Stitching Challenge and MS Doily Tutorial

This week's challenge at My Sheri Crafts is "Stitching"! I love using my sewing machine on LOs, but I got this fabulous package of stickers from my LSS a while ago, that are actually meant to be stitched. Fun, huh?



Here's an up close of one of the stickers, stitched with metallic thread:



And the finished LO:



Another fun detail was making the doily that partly mats the photo.I love my Martha Stewart punches, and I'm always looking for ways to use them on things in new ways. I've made circle doilies before (see here) but this one doesn't require cutting into the pattern and uses a corner punch!

How to make the doily, using a Martha Stewart corner punch:

You'll need a circle and a corner punch. Not all punches work equally well. I'd suggest punches that have a sloping entry/exit into the pattern, or just experimenting.



This circle was cut 7.25".



Start punching! I flip my punch over to see exactly where the punch will occur. Keep the design close to the edge.



Line up the next punch section. Your pattern repeats should overlap, but not get too close.



The result. The last punch may not line up exactly. Since this will be layered under a photo, it doesn't matter. If I was going to use it and have it all show, I would "hide" the not-perfect lining up bit with ribbon or a prima flower.



There's a little triangle bit left over from the punch.



The triangle bit can be left, or removed with an exacto knife.

Fun! I hope you like this technique. It's a great way to extend the use of those fabulous punches (and go get some more!!)

Make sure you hop over to My Sheri Crafts and enter your stitching project for a chance to win!